I’ve now heard from three different NHL people that Martin St. Louis did indeed request a trade last month. He has a full no-move clause, so he could pick his destination. That would seem to be the Rangers. St. Louis has an offseason home in Greenwich, Conn.

Have to see how that plays out and whether St. Louis ultimately getting to go to Sochi and win a gold medal has changed his feelings. But if this all stemmed from Steve Yzerman passing St. Louis over for the initial Team Canada roster, that may trump John Tavares’ season-ending injury as exhibit A for owners and GMs never wanting the NHL in the Olympics again.

Garth, that did cross my mind as a potential reason, but it seems petty at this point, especially considering that he ended up getting to be there. Even if he didn’t get to go, despite how painful it might have been, you’d think he’d understand that it’s business, not personal.

Well, two things. First is that the only reason he went to Sochi was because Tampa’s golden boy ended up ducking out. If Yzerman had his way, Stamkos would’ve been in Sochi and St. Louis would’ve been on vacation. Second is that St. Louis is seventh in the league among Canadian forwards in scoring. ot selecting him sends a message. It could be argued that a guy like Tyler Sequin is having his first big year or that Taylor Hall is the best player on a shitty, shitty team, so they are unproven. But St. Louis is a one-time Conn Smythe winner (sure, it was a decade ago, but it means he’s proven), he’s the leading scorer on Tampa Bay and he’s the reigning Art Ross winner.

I assume you meant Hart since Richards won the Conn Smythe, but I completely see where you’re coming from. Perhaps the final decision was Yzerman’s, but I imagine he had pressure from his colleagues that for some (stupid) reason didn’t want Marty on the team. You’d think Yzerman would have been a proponent for his captain, but perhaps not I guess.

Either way though, I don’t think he should take it out on his teammates and TB fans, who will likely lose out on a deep playoff run without him.

If this is anybody but Marty St. Louis, I have a feeling the hockey world turns on him pretty quickly.

Guy can do whatever he wants and I don’t rightfully care or blame him, but he’s abandoning his teammates and the Tampa Bay Lightning fanbase all because he’s a bit huffy about a snub for the Olympic roster that turned out not to be snub.

Dude got his gold medal and he still wants to go somewhere else because Yzerman hurt his feelings (supposedly).

You think if Burke and Ryan were both still in Anaheim and things had gone differently for the American team that the player gets away from this situation unscathed?

I assume you meant Hart since Richards won the Conn Smythe, but I completely see where you’re coming from.

Yes. Brain fart, my bad.

You’d think Yzerman would have been a proponent for his captain, but perhaps not I guess.

That’s the thing I don’t get.

It’s possible that Yzerman fought to have him on the team, but it’s hard for me to reconcile that. It seems that Babcock wanted him since he played St Louis in four of Canada’s six games, including the gold medal game, and one would think that if he had the head coach and the GM on his side, what kind of argument against him could pressure Yzerman to not take him?

It’s not even like anyone would’ve been up in arms if he had been chosen in the first place.

Either way though, I don’t think he should take it out on his teammates and TB fans, who will likely lose out on a deep playoff run without him.

I don’t disagree.

Do you have one to offer?

I don’t know, Yzerman’s jealous of St. Louis’ s penis?

Or do you have some hockeyyinsiderr info?

No, I have the publicly known info that he was chosen for the team but had to duck out because of his injuries.

You think if Burke and Ryan were both still in Anaheim and things had gone differently for the American team that the player gets away from this situation unscathed?

Hard to say. If we didn’t have the visual evidence of Burke arguing against Ryan then Burke could easily go to Ryan and say “Hey, I fought for you, but Poile had the last word”. As it stands, with the video of Burke questioning Ryan’s intensity (and the fact that it’s Brian Burke) I have a hard time thinking that people would turn on Ryan.

Hard to say. If we didn’t have the visual evidence of Burke arguing against Ryan then Burke could easily go to Ryan and say “Hey, I fought for you, but Poile had the last word”. As it stands, with the video of Burke questioning Ryan’s intensity (and the fact that it’s Brian Burke) I have a hard time thinking that people would turn on Ryan.